E-Malt.com News article: Canada, AB: Big Rock Brewery has a new CEO

As chief executive of the Forzani Group Limited, Bob Sartor took the retailer from about C$700 mln in annual total revenue to about C$1.4 bln in eight years at the helm. And on his first day on the job as the new chief executive of Big Rock Brewery in Calgary, Sartor was talking about growth opportunities for the craft beer company, Calgary Herald reported on March, 19.

“I like to grow businesses. And this is a business that can grow,” said Sartor who replaces founder Ed McNally, who started Big Rock in 1985. McNally will remain as the company’s chairman of the board.

Sartor had been with FGL for about 15 years, and was its CEO from 2003 to 2011 when he left after Canadian Tire Corporation acquired the Calgary-based company in a C$771-mln takeover.

“What I really enjoyed about working at Forzani’s is that it was a local business. It had a real entrepreneurial flair and it had a relatively iconic brand in Sport Chek. And it had a great culture,” said Sartor. “The environment was very comfortable for me. And since the sale of Canadian Tire I was looking for a similar kind of opportunity because I certainly had many opportunities to go elsewhere and move to other provinces or even to the States.

“But I wanted to stay in Calgary and I was looking for that perfect fit and Big Rock is definitely the perfect fit. It is probably one of the most iconic Alberta brands. And it’s an entrepreneurial environment with the founder still in the business.”

Big Rock has annual sales of over C$50 mln with its brand in nine provinces and territories. It has about 100 employees.

“We have capital to invest. The question is where and why. And certainly the first three months of my tenure will be focused on that,” said Sartor.

“There’s quite a few directions it can go. The craft brewing business is growing very well but it’s mostly small businesses. We’re the biggest one of its kind in Canada and right now what we need to figure out is it easier for us to grow organically by essentially marketing and pushing the Big Rock name further in other provinces or is it easier to grow by teaming up with small startup operations that are starved for capital but have a good product and a good brand. There are several avenues that are open to us . . . Believe it or not, there’s still a ton of growth available in Alberta.”

In the short-term, Sartor said his goal for the company is to ensure that everyone — from the boardroom to the people in bottling and sales — understands what Big Rock’s vision is and understands the strategy designed to grow its business. He said strategic alignment within a company always translates into better results.

One of the opportunities the company has is to create more and different brands, he said.

“Craft beers are much more sophisticated on the palate than what I call big, processed-brewed beers of the big guys,” said Sartor. “They are batch-produced. They are all handmade. They have no preservatives or stabilizers typically craft beers. Typically craft beers only have a few ingredients and in the case of Big Rock they’re unpasteurized. These are truly pure products. No chemicals. And I think that’s the appeal for craft brew drinkers.”

On his first day on the job, he also reflected on his former tenure at Canada’s largest sporting goods retailer.

“At the end of the day, Canadian Tire already had a CEO so there can only be one CEO in a public company,” said Sartor. “It was understood the day of the announcement that I would leaving. And frankly I don’t think I’m cut out for, first of all, working in a small subsidiary of a large organization. I’d rather have a real hand in shaping culture. I’d rather have a real hand in building a team, in creating something that’s unique. And obviously if you’re the sub of a large company you have to fit into that company culture and not vice versa.”

The Forzani Group was conceived in 1974 when John Forzani, along with brothers Joe and Tom, and friend Basil Bark, opened Forzani’s Locker Room in Calgary.

When Sartor’s departure was announced in August 2011, Stephen Wetmore, president and chief executive of Canadian Tire, in a statement, said: “I want to personally thank Bob Sartor for his tremendous leadership at Forzani and for growing Canada’s leading sports retailer into the success it is today.”


21 March, 2012